My parents never drank. Ever. They wouldn't even take communion from the cup at Mass, because "there's just no need of it". I understand why they don't drink, or at least why my Mom doesn't. I know, too, that everyone knows at least someone with a drinking problem.
When I was in high school, a cousin of mine was deemed an alcoholic, and the whole extended family reeled. I remember accompanying my aunt to an Al-Anon meeting, where we watched a video about a man who came home from work and every night, (every night!) he would have an alcoholic drink with his dinner. The movie asked, was this man an alcoholic? The movie answered, "YES". In fact, the movie said, someone who never drinks at all could be an alcoholic. The idea that I came away from that meeting with was that anyone who ever showed any interest at all in drinking was already a candidate for rehab.
When I moved in with my first roommate as an adult, I was horrified to see that she would often come home from work and have a glass of wine. ALCOHOLIC!!!!!!!!!!!! I'd certainly tried out drinking by that point in my life, had done the college drinking thing and all that. But here was that man from the movie, right in my own home. But somehow I had gotten the idea that drinking was really for college students, and that any adult who drinks must be... well, you know.
So it's been quite a process of trying to pick through this imprinting on alcohol and not feel too terribly guilty when I thought "mm, a glass of wine would be good right now!" But still, whenever I go to the fridge for second beer, I hear myself asking Scott "am I an alcoholic if I have another beer?" and he says "NOOOOOOOO...." in a voice that says my question is silly and of course not.
And now here I am at almost-40 and you know what? I love beer! My mother would be absolutely HORRIFIED to read that sentence, but it's true. I love good, cold, wheaty, sparkly, delicious beer.
There, I've said it. All this writing is making me... kinda thirsty! Hmmmm.... I wonder if we have any pretzels? Oh, I do love pretzels.
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http://www.addictionconsulting.com/20questions.htm
Funny how addiction works. It can make people with no problem feel paranoid,(Margo that is you!) and reinforce an addict that they are fine.(not you.)
Beer is good. Wine is good. Vodka, ah very good. Not remembering what you did, being mortified that you did it, doing it again, needing to drink to excess (Not the same thing as a yummy hit the spot crisp cold beer on a hot day!) can be a problem. And of course you can have a 'start of a problem,' a 'real problem', or 'an addiction'.
Luckily most people just like a good cold one once and a while!
Drink up Margo, no worries.
I'll drink to that!
...(Does that make me an alcololic?)
In some of my songs I have casually mentioned
The fact that I like to drink beer
But this little song is more to the point
so roll out the barrel and lend me your ear
(chorus)
I like beer It makes me a jolly good fellow
I like beer It helps me unwind and sometime it makes me feel mellow
(makes him feel mellow)
Whiskeys too rough
Champaign cost too much
vodka puts my mouth in gear
This little refrain should help me explain
as a matter of fact I like beer
In Heaven there is no beer
that's why we drink it here
And when we're all gone from here
Our friends will be drinking all the beer.
In Heaven there is no wine
so we drink till we feel fine
And when we leave this all behind
Our friends will be drinking all the wine.
In Heaven there is no fear
so we worry too much here
And we drink ourselves full of beer
To help us when we deal with the fear.
I had a physical at my doctor's office recently where he asked the question, "How often do you drink?" When I replied 2-3 drinks per week, he asked, "Are you married?" When I said no, he replied, "You know, you could actually have a drink each night with dinner and it is good for your health."
I wonder what he would have said if I told him I was married...
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